It's no conspiracy: Benson Henderson has worked to become one of UFC's best

MILWAUKEE, Wis. Meet Benson Henderson: conspiracy theorist, but not Illuminati; business owner, but not businessman; mixed martial arts champion, but not beloved.

The UFC lightweight champion is one of the sport's most engaging, complex and misunderstood figures.

He gets derided for his lack of finishes, though if he beats Anthony Pettis on Saturday at the Bradley Center in the main event of UFC 164, Henderson will set a record for most consecutive successful lightweight title defenses.

He's the co-owner along with his friends John Crouch and Joe Ervin of a highly successful gym, The MMA Lab, in Glendale, Ariz., but takes great pains to stress he's not a successful businessman.

Henderson, who once was so poor that he had to mop the floors and clean the toilets of the gym he now owns, has a unique theory on business success.

"I don't want to be a good businessman, because I think businessmen are low-down, dirty dogs," Henderson told Yahoo! Sports late Wednesday before one of his final workouts. "You can be a good businessperson, but to be good at business, I think you inherently have to become somewhat of a dirty dog. I don't want to be a good businessperson, but I do want to have good, successful businesses. For the Lab being a good, successful business, I am happy about that."

He landed in Arizona by accident, following Crouch, his best friend and longtime coach, and former UFC fighter Alvin Robertson to the desert.

[Anthony Pettis' coach: 'This must be what it was like to coach Michael Jordan']

When Henderson arrived in Phoenix, he had little but what he could hold in his bag. He didn't live day-to-day; he pretty much lived hour-to-hour.

The MMA Lab was under different ownership, and Crouch moved there to teach classes and train fighters. The then-owner agreed to allow Henderson to train for free and to have unpaid access to all of the facility's coaches in exchange for some manual labor.

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It's no conspiracy: Benson Henderson has worked to become one of UFC's best